I Owe You One
by KkarmaCchameleon
Summary: James and Lily are competitive even in who is more defensive of the other.


It all started that day back in fifth year.

When the bickering boys—that's all they were, after all—thought Lily was out of earshot, they got back into it, hurling halfhearted hexes at each other when what they both wanted to do was chase after her, but neither knew what to say. They would have probably called it quits after a couple more minutes, seeing as neither of their hearts were really in it and it just wasn't fun, but then Snape just had to do it, he had to drop the M-bomb again. "Look at you, Potter," he spat with disgust. "Getting so worked up over a filthy little Mudblood that won't spare you a second glance."

Lily, who wasn't as out of earshot as the boys seemed to think—they were stuck in a haze of testosterone and the idea that they had something to prove—almost turned back around at that, because _really?_ It wasn't enough to say it once? But she didn't; he wasn't worth it. Petty fights and stupid jinxes—none of it was worth it! So she kept on chatting with Marlene and Mary about how she thought she'd done on her O.W.L.s so far, back turned to the escalating scene behind her.

James had had it with him. It wasn't okay to insult him like that—surely she'd spared him a second glance at least once before?—but there was no excuse for calling Lily that awful slur. He did a quick check and didn't see her anywhere nearby before yelling, "Don't you _dare_ call her that!" and sending another jinx his way.

Within a minute, the curses were flying again, with almost equal force from both sides, until a voice broke through. "_Quit it, would you?"_ a very angry redhead screamed at the pair.

James stopped immediately, lowering his wand, a hand going to his hair out of habit. In his moment of distraction, Snape had one last go, sending the Conjunctivitis Curse towards his opponent and smirking with satisfaction when James's handed jumped to his face and he groaned in pain.

"I said quit it!" Lily shouted, now directing her anger at the Slytherin.

"I don't take orders from Mud—"

James grumbled something unintelligible, but Lily took care of it herself this time. "You don't take orders from Mudbloods. Got it. But there's two Prefects present, in case you hadn't noticed. Remus!" she yelled at the oblivious bookworm, who promptly leapt to his feet.

Taking in everything—Lily, looking furious; James, face scrunched up in pain and definitely not from the gashes, although those did look painful; Snape, wand still drawn—Lupin gave a long and weary sigh. When he was younger, he'd always been taught the saying _pick your battles._ Looking between the three students, this wasn't a battle he would've picked if he'd been given the choice. "Yes, Lily?" he asked warily.

"Can you deal with _this one?_" she asked with contempt, eyes flicking to Snape for a split second. "Figure out a suitable punishment. I'd do it myself, but I can't look at him much longer without wanting to curse him into next week. So do as you see fit, oh wise Prefect."

He gave a mocking salute. "I take it you're dealing with _that one?_" He pointed to James.

She nodded. "I'll take him to see Madam Pomfrey. She'll get him fixed up. You _can_ walk, can't you?"

James didn't miss the condescending note in her voice, but he didn't care. "I can. Can't see very well, though," he mumbled.

Lily took him by the elbow and lead him back to the castle. "I'll try and make sure you don't run into any walls. No promises, because it's very tempting and I'm not the best at resisting temptation."

"Then how come you won't go out with me?" he asked casually.

With a snort, she reminded him, "That's never been a temptation, Potter." She pushed him into the Hospital Wing.

"Another duel?" Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.

"Not exactly," James muttered, wincing as she fixed his eyes before healing the rest of his face.

"Meaning yes. Third time this year, Potter."

"Oh, come now, I've been in here loads of times. Shouldn't we be on a first name basis by now, Poppy?"

"I'm not afraid to accidentally break your nose again," she warned.

Lily laughed. "Finally, someone who gets me!"

"My nose was already broken," he protested. "You just made it worse before making it better because I pissed you off."

"Wow, can't imagine you having that effect on anyone," Lily said dryly. "Feel free to break whatever bones you like," she added to Pomfrey.

"Tempting, but I'm rather fond of my job... Once a year is good enough for me."

"Again with talk of temptation around me. I must have quite the effect on the ladies."

"You don't," they both assured him.

"Thanks for fixing my face without hexing it off!" He strolled out just like that.

After sharing a look of annoyance with Madam Pomfrey, Lily followed him out. "Potter, wait up!"

He stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around. "Miss Evans, what a pleasant change, you trying to get my attention. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I just wanted to say thanks. For defending me, you know. You didn't have to. I owe you one."

* * *

If there was one thing Lily hated, it was feeling indebted to someone.

Especially when that someone happened to be James Potter.

She should never have said _I owe you one._ It just slipped out before she could stop it, but he wouldn't let it alone. They were now one week into their sixth year and he had brought it up no fewer than forty-nine times, plus all the numerous instances he'd brought it up at the end of last year.

James sidled up to her. "So, Evans," he said smoothly.

"Potter." She already knew what he was going to say.

"It has come to my attention that you still owe me. Go out with me?" It was the way he said it—hopeful, like he thought that this was it, this time, she would say yes—that made her smile. His never-ceasing perseverance would be endearing if it wasn't so frustrating.

"Not this time." As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back, but it was too late.

He thrust a fist into the air triumphantly. "Which means you'll say yes someday!" He flashed her a quick crooked grin before taking off down the hall.

Lily shook her head, smiling to herself. He was nothing if not determined. But then she saw them: Snape and Avery were approaching James from behind, wands out, and he didn't see. "Potter!" she shouted, speeding up. She didn't want to have to drag James to the Hospital Wing again.

"Changed your mind, I take it?" he joked before whirling around to find himself facing the backs of two Slytherins. After hearing her try to get his attention, they'd turned around and were poised to attack Lily now.

It was a blur, with three spells going off at once. Avery hissed, _"Sectumsempra!"_ while Lily used _"Protego!"_ to defend herself and James yelled, _"Expelliarmus!"_

Avery's spell hit Lily's shoulder before she could properly conjure the Shield Charm, and James missed and hit Lily instead. "Shit," he muttered, seeing her eyes widen in momentary fear. She was bleeding pretty heavily, her wand was flying through the air, and there were two boys dead-set on hexing someone standing between her and safety.

As James was jumping to catch her wand, with every intention of throwing it right back to her, a savior came in the form of Professor McGonagall. She took one look at the situation before shaking her head. "Potter, take Evans up to see Madam Pomfrey." Then she fixed a glare on the two guilty individuals. "As for you two..."

If Lily hadn't been injured, James would have tried to stay for what was sure to be an amusing lecture. He handed her back her wand. "I guess Snivellus has been sharing his little spell with the others," he said angrily while they walked.

"What are you talking about?" She was only half-listening, most of her attention going to the copious amount of blood coming from her shoulder and dripping down her arm. She carefully shrugged off her robe and saw that the blood had seeped through her shirt and was starting to leave a spot on her jumper.

"That spell Avery used, Snape created it." There was venom in his voice, and he was so focused on hating that awful greasy-haired kid that he didn't notice when they'd gotten to the Hospital Wing.

Pomfrey was already at the door. "Okay, what's the damage this time?" she asked briskly before catching sight of Lily. "Oh! What happened?"

"That _curse,"_ James explained, and he knew that _she_ knew what he was talking about. Snape had been using it on the Marauders for a couple of years now, and she'd had to heal the cuts on more than one occasion.

She tutted as she slid Lily's collar over to heal it. "One of these days," she said under her breath. "He's going to curse the wrong person, and he's going to get what's coming to him."

James expected Lily to jump to Snape's defense, to say that _no, it wasn't him that did it, it was someone else,_ because that was actually true. But she surprised him, nodding in assent. "He'll get what's coming to him, that's for sure." Beneath the fury, James picked up on the lingering hint of betrayal.

"Well," Pomfrey said with a final wave of her wand, cleaning the bloodstains. "You've been back one week. Could you _please_ try and stay out of trouble for a while? And pass that message along to your friends, would you?" she added, giving James a pointed look; she knew it was only a matter of time before the other Marauders accidentally hurt themselves or someone else doing some prank or other.

"Will do!" He took Lily by the wrist and pulled her back out into the hall.

She swatted him away. "I can walk on my own, thanks." She didn't mean to sound quite so snippy. "Sorry, I, uh—"

"Thank you, Lily," he said sincerely, making a point to use her first name. "I really do owe you for that."

"No, now we're even," she argued.

"We'd be even if all you'd done was warn me about them. Thanks for that, by the way."

She nodded. She would have brought the issue to his attention even if she hadn't owed him. Only a coward attacks from behind; he deserved a fair warning.

"But then they went and hexed you when it was meant for me, _and_ I accidentally took your wand instead of theirs. I'd say I definitely owe you."

She sighed, because he had that same look on his face he did whenever he asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him, the look of relentless determination, the look that said _I don't care how long it takes to get a yes, but I won't take no for a final answer._ "Fine. Quit asking me out and we'll call it even."

He smiled. "Not a chance, Evans. Not a _chance._"

* * *

James saw the opportunity just three days later. He popped into the library and there was Lily, head bent over an essay. She was humming to herself and was completely unaware that Avery was eyeing her from a few feet away, eyes glinting while he twirled his wand between his fingers.

Luckily for James, Avery was watching Lily like a hawk and didn't notice James pulling out his wand and whispering, "_Stupefy!"_

Lily jumped when she heard the unmistakeable sound of a body falling to the floor. She shot James a curious look as Madam Pince started shrieking about disrupting the quiet, peaceful environment of the library. While she was shouting, he approached Lily and explained quietly, "He was going to hex you. I was being proactive."

Avery was revived and they asked who hit him with the spell. He pointed at James. James was given detention. To the shock of everyone present, he didn't argue.

Later on, in the Common Room, right before she went up to bed, Lily found James by the fire. "Um, thanks for that. From earlier, I mean." And then those damn words tumbled out again. "I owe you one."

* * *

Lily had resolved to never open her mouth again, because every time she did, something she didn't want to say came out. For instance, telling James she owed him.

Again.

And then she found herself tackling him out of the way of a spell on the way to Potions. His head made a nasty noise when it hit the floor of the dungeon, and she landed a little less than gracefully on top of him. "Wow, Evans," he remarked, grinning through the pain. "I'm seeing you from a whole new angle. Have to say I like it."

"Go away, Potter," she said, but she couldn't muster up any anger.

"Kind of difficult, seeing as you're currently on top of me." He smirked. "And you—"

"I hate to break this up," Sirius interrupted, barely managing to keep a straight face. "But Sluggie's coming to see what's the matter and I'm sure he'd _love_ to hear the story behind how you found yourselves in this compromising position."

Lily pushed herself to her feet and offered James a hand. His grin widened and he accepted, but staggered when he stood and had to lean against a table as soon as they were in the classroom. "You okay?" she asked him, concerned despite his previous comments.

"Don't feel so good," he admitted. And then he vomited in a cauldron, to the amusement of the Slytherins.

_Why_ did they make the Slytherins and Gryffindors endure classes together?

_"Scourgify!"_ Lily performed the charm instinctively. With all the messes the boys left in the Common Room, it was a habit.

"What seems to be the problem?" Slughorn asked, looking from student to student: chortling Slytherins, nervous Gryffindors, a sick James, a worried Lily, and three Marauders torn between laughter and concern.

"Just a concussion," James mumbled.

Slughorn gave a sigh. "Which one of you did it?" His attention was focused on the students from his own house, the most likely culprits.

"Er, Professor," Lily said, feeling uncomfortable. "Mulciber was going to hex him, so I pushed him out of the way. He fell and hit his head on the floor."

If it had been another student, he would have asked more questions. But Lily was one of his favorites, so he merely nodded. "Very well. Do be more careful next time—not that there should _be_ a next time," he added, giving the Slytherin students a stern look. "Evans, if you could take him to the Hospital Wing? I'm sure it's not his first concussion."

When they left, even the Marauders started to snicker.

James realized Lily still had his hand in hers, and he didn't bother pointing it out, just smiled slightly as they walked. Well, she walked; he stumbled dizzily.

Madam Pomfrey was not pleased.

She made James lay down while she got a bottle of the potion she needed. "It'll take about four hours to work, and he can't go to sleep during that four hours," she told Lily.

"Okay?" She said it like a question, considering it was early afternoon. Not much of a reason for him to want to sleep.

"The main side effect is that it makes you really tired," James chimed in before downing it in one go. When Lily raised an eyebrow, he explained, "I've gotten a few concussions playing Quidditch. Mind if Evans stays with me, Poppy?"

"So long as you don't call me Poppy," she answered, shaking her head and going to tend to a student who'd had an unfortunate interaction with a Venomous Tentacula.

"Thanks for stopping... whatever it was you stopped from happening," he said, sitting up and propping himself against the wall behind the bed. Lying down only made him sleepier; he'd been through this a time or two.

Lily pulled up a chair and sat next to him. "I'm starting to think the jinx would've been better than this. Sorry for the concussion."

He shrugged. "I guess it makes us even. Plus," he added brightly. "It means I get to spend four extra hours with you!"

"Don't think this means you can start purposefully getting yourself hurt just so I'll spend time with you," she warned.

"You take all the fun out of injuries, you know that?" He yawned. "Tell me a story."

"What kind?" It was James Potter, of course she was a little wary.

"I dunno, just a story. Ooh, how about something stupid you did when you were a kid. I know you're Lily and you're perfect, but surely you did something ridiculous when you were little?"

She thought for a minute. "I used to jump out of swings a lot, and I would always just sort of glide when I landed instead of just hitting the ground. I figured the same thing would work from trees. So in autumn when I was eight or nine, we'd raked this _huge_ pile of leaves, and I climbed really high up this tree in our backyard, and I was going to jump, but Petunia yelled for me and I lost my footing and I fell. I broke my arm and cut my back on a branch at the bottom. I had to get thirty-eight stitches. I still have the scar," she said, sounding rather proud.

"I'd like to see that some time," James commented, smiling because he already knew she was going to smack him.

Which she did.

"Sorry." He grinned. "When I was seven, my dad and I were passing a Quaffle back and forth on brooms, to get me used to flying and throwing things at the same time—and I was damn good at it, even then, by the way. But I missed one and it knocked me off my broomstick." He also sounded proud when he continued. "That was my first concussion."

She didn't say anything, but the corners of her mouth turned up.

After a minute, he asked, "Lily, what're stitches?"

"It's a Muggle thing. If you get a bad enough cut, they sew it back up."

"Like, with a needle and thread?" When she nodded, he looked positively appalled. "Muggles are so..." He couldn't find the right adjective.

"Hey! My parents are Muggles!" she reminded him.

He tweaked her nose. "And you still turned out alright."

They continued sharing childhood stories. When Lily accidentally made the glass disappear from the cages in a pet store when she was ten, causing all of the birds to escape. When James broke his mom's favorite vase, so he panicked and wrapped it in his dad's invisibility cloak so no one would find it; when he confessed anyway that night, she laughed and repaired it in seconds. He told her all about growing up in a magical family. She talked about the Muggle world. They were both fascinated.

After about three hours, he was starting to drift, getting progressively more tired, until Lily could tell he wasn't listening anymore. "You're really pretty," he mumbled, eyes slipping closed.

Cold water, that would keep him away. She thought for a second on where she could get a bucket when she remembered her wand. "_Aguamenti!"_ A jet of water shot at James, hitting him in the face.

"Aaargh!" He pushed his wet hair out of the way and rubbed at the spot on his cheek the water had hit.

"Sorry, you were falling asleep. I had to keep you awake."

"I think you left a bruise!" he whined.

"I apologized! What more do you want me to do?"

"How about a kiss?" he asked, pushing his luck.

With a shrug, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek lightly, causing him to blush, even though he'd asked for it.

"My lips kind of hurt too... No? Well, it was worth a try."

"Don't fall asleep again, because you're not getting another kiss."

"Damn. What do I have to do to get another one, then?"

"Who says there's going to _be_ another one?"

They argued about kisses and whether he'd be getting another one for a while, until Madam Pomfrey appeared and told him he could leave. "Could you two _please_ be more careful?" she asked before they left.

"Thanks for the concussion, Evans," he said on the way to the Great Hall for dinner.

"I already said I was sorry!" She really did feel pretty bad about it. It wasn't every day you gave someone a head injury.

"I wasn't being sarcastic. Really, it'll probably be the highlight of my week. I owe you one." _Damn that phrase._ With a grin, he went to sit with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, while she plopped down between Mary and Marlene.

"You look...happy," said Marlene suspiciously.

"What?"

"You've been missing for _hours_ and you show up, laughing with Potter. It's, well, it makes certain questions arise," Mary giggled.

Not able to come up with a decent comeback, Lily exclaimed, "Oh, shut up!"

* * *

Over the next couple of months, the students of Hogwarts noticed something. Lily and James were starting to get competitive with their defensiveness. Most found it funny and would just roll their eyes when they saw one of the two hexing someone for the other, or when the pair would leave the Hospital Wing, or when James would ask her out in the middle of all of it, or when Lily would flinch at the words _I owe you one._ The professors were sick of it, but they could never actually catch them doing anything wrong. The Slytherins were steadily growing more annoyed; all of their attempts at cursing those two had been thwarted. Snape, in particular, was itching to _really _injure James, even if it meant detention or losing points.

He saw his chance one morning. Lily was already eating breakfast, so she wouldn't be around to protect James from it. Snape climbed the stairs, and _there he was._ Back turned, a perfect target. He'd learned his lesson with _Sectumsempra._ The first time he'd used it had been full-on, and his target (Sirius) had nearly died; he'd lost Slytherin fifty points and had three weeks of detention. Since then, he'd made sure to only leave smaller gashes on the face or arms. It was with an expression of delight that he said, _"Sectum—"_

_"Impedimenta!"_

He was unable to fully say the curse—in retrospect, he should have used fewer syllables when he created it—before someone else was hitting him with a forceful jinx. It knocked him over, sending him tumbling back down the stairs, landing at the feet of Lily Evans. "What is your _problem?_" she shouted, looking more angry than he'd ever seen her. "He wasn't doing anything to you! You're just like them now, aren't you?" she asked rhetorically. "Cursing the innocent for no god damn reason. I can't believe we used to be _friends._ Take a look at yourself. You're _pathetic._" She stepped past him, still lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

James was staring at her, jaw dropped. Lily sighed and pushed on his chin until he closed his mouth. "He needed a reality check," she said, looking embarrassed.

"Lily Evans," said James, grinning broadly. "You are the most _wonderful_ person ever. I owe you one."

* * *

By January, it was an almost daily occurrence.

Slytherins walked with their wands at the ready, just in case they spotted one of them alone. It had become less about fun and more about finding a way to split up the dynamic duo. It was infuriating, how they'd started going places together. It was coincidental at first; they would find themselves near each other at just the right moment. After a while, they decided that maybe the attacks would end if they just stuck together. James was ecstatic; this was all he'd ever wanted, to finally get close to Lily. And he was growing on her. Slowly but surely, Lily was developing a certain fondness for James, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

Of course, just about every day, they would either deflect a curse, do some preventative hexing, or warn the other about an approaching rival. They also visited Madam Pomfrey more than any other students at Hogwarts, and to be quite frank, she was growing tired of seeing them.

"Honestly! How are you managing in any of your classes with how often you land yourselves here!" she'd yelled recently.

Most of Slytherin now knew about _Sectumsempra,_ and they knew to use it lightly and not full-on. About half the visits to Pomfrey were because of that spell. It had been banned—Dumbledore made an official announcement over dinner one evening a couple weeks back—but the attackers traveled in packs and it was tricky to pinpoint it on a specific person when it was cast.

While Lily was getting fixed up, Marlene vented to Sirius, "This is bloody ridiculous! This is the worst, most obscure and ill-thought out kind of flirting I've seen in my life!"_  
_

"As someone who's seen a hell of a lot of flirting, I agree."

"Flirting? How do you call _that_ flirting?" Peter asked from across the room, where he was trying his damnedest to understand the Charms assignment. But the concept of this—this _thing_ James and Lily were doing—being construed at flirting might be even harder to grasp.

"How could you not?" Marlene responded. "They're defending each other, trying to prove some stupid point. Every time, they make sure to say _I owe you one_ because neither of them wants to break the chain, because their entire friendship is based on them being protective and if they quit doing that, they may have to actually talk about their feelings."

"What feelings? I know James fancies her, but does she..." Peter trailed off.

"Of course she does. Part of her always has, she's just never been able to admit it because he's Potter and he was arrogant but now that he's seeming less arrogant and she's got an excuse to talk to him, she's becoming more aware of her feelings." Marlene grinned, clearly pleased with her explanation. "Speak of the devil," she added, as Lily and James came through the portrait hole.

Noticing how irritated Lily looked and how James had his lips pressed together tightly, like he was struggling to keep a bubble of laughter from escaping, Mary had to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Well," Lily began, just a tad awkwardly. "We've, er, well, we've been banned from the Hospital Wing."

Peter knocked his ink bottle onto his Charms book. Sirius threw his head back and barked out a laugh. Mary clamped a hand over her mouth. Marlene joined her boyfriend in cackling. Remus blinked at them for a second before becoming the first to regain composure. "You two... you got..."

Well, composure can be used very loosely in some cases.

After a few more moments of speechlessness, he tried again. "You must be the first people in Hogwarts history to get yourselves banned from... I honestly have no words for you two right now."

"Ah, listen, I'm going to go get some rest," Lily mumbled, walking up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

James followed suit soon after, going up the boys' staircase.

As soon as they heard the door shut again, the students still in the Common Room started discussing their friends' predicament. "Do you know what it takes to get banned from the Hospital Week?" Mary asked, finally rediscovering the ability to speak.

"No. Do you?" The question came from Sirius and Marlene at the same time, which made them start laughing again.

Peter was nervous. "What if they get sick? Or hurt? Will she just let them back in?"

Remus sighed. "It's those two, remember. They can apparently do anything."

* * *

They got pretty good at healing each other's minor cuts and bruises, and the pattern continued for some time. But then seventh year rolled around. As Head Boy and Girl, there were expectations, and they couldn't very well jinx anyone that looked threatening. It was tricky, a more delicate science. They secretly reveled in it.

And then came the day when Snape snapped.

He couldn't tell what it was, but something about that October day brought out the worst in him. He didn't give a fuck about witnesses; he just wanted to _do this._ While Lily was leaning to pick up a dropped book and James had his head turned, talking with Remus about the upcoming Quidditch match, Snape pointed his wand directly at James's chest and yelled, _"Sectumsempra!"_

The blood started spurting immediately as heads turned in his direction. James slumped to the floor. The other nearby students weren't sure what to do as Lily dropped to her knees beside him and tore his shirt open, whispering the words, "_Vulnera Sanentur" _over and over again as she touched each wound. "Someone go get Madam Pomfrey!" she shouted between cuts, and a third year sprinted away.

She'd stopped the bleeding and was working on sealing the wounds when Pomfrey showed up. She conjured a stretcher and had James drifting behind her. Remus and Lily followed, while the others knew to back off. Lily glared so fiercely at Snape that he flinched.

Remus was allowed to stay while she healed James, but Lily was told to leave, presumably because he would have to change, and that she could come back in about twenty minutes. She knew just what she was going to do, going to the Great Hall under the pretense of eating, though she was far from hungry.

Quietly as she could, Lily informed Sirius and Peter of what had happened. They'd heard stories—hell, the whole school had heard varied versions of it already—but it was nice to know the truth. "_Why_ that spell every time?" she ranted in a whisper, occasionally glancing to see if Snape was still at the Slytherin table. Rumor was that he had to report directly to Dumbledore as soon as he finished eating. "Doesn't he know any other? No, actually, what I want to know is why _James!_ What's he got against him?" Had she been thinking clearly, she would have recalled asking Potter a similar question May of last year.

"Well... they've always hated each other," Sirius said. "Everyone knows that. There was the whole you thing, y'know, where James has been in love with you for years and Snape hated him for that and James hated him for spending time with you..."

Peter piped up, "But it got worse after—"

"Peter!" Sirius hissed.

"After what?" Lily asked. "Do tell me the reason behind this obvious vendetta."

"Well, James saved Snivellus's life and, oh, don't look at me like that, Lily... I don't want to explain it. I can't. It's not my story to tell." When she continued to stare at him, he gnawed on his bottom lip, unsure of what to do. "There's things about certain friends of yours that you don't know."

"Oh really?" she laughed. "Let's see... Well, you four have got that, that _map, _which is how you sneak around without getting caught. Remus is a werewolf. Trish Lancaster from Ravenclaw has been meeting up with her ex and snogging in broom closets for three months. Mary—"

"How did you know that second one?" he whispered, dumbfounded.

"Please, it wasn't that hard to figure out. But never matter, what's that got to do with anything?"

"_Everything!"_ And he filled her in. How one day early in their fifth year, he'd had a terrible moment of assholery and told Snape just how to get into the secret passage under the Whomping Willow. How he'd told James about it, and James had rescued him in the nick of time. "He owes him his life, and he hates that. That's why he got worse."

Lily was going to say something, but she saw that he was making his way out. Now was her chance. "I've gotta go take care of something."

She followed Snape to the top of the stairs but called out to him, making him stop in his tracks and turn around. She could see that he was gripping his wand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Haven't you got enough going against you without adding another incident?" She stepped closer and closer until his back was against the wall, and she pulled out her own wand, pointing it at his throat. "Listen. If you _ever_ lay another _finger _on James Potter, it will be the _last_ thing you do. I care a lot about him, and _nobody _hurts the people I care about. Am I clear?" she snarled, jabbing the point of her wand into his lower jaw.

Fear flashed in his eyes for a brief second, and he nodded.

"Good. Nice talking to you." It had been twenty minutes, right? Surely. So she returned to the Hospital Wing, a spring in her step.

"He's been asking for you," Remus said quietly when Lily took a seat on the left side of a sleeping James.

"He was awake?" she yelped, reaching down to thread their fingers together. It was comforting, even if he was unconscious and probably didn't know she'd done it.

"Talking in his sleep. He said your name a few times and then 'where's Lily.' That's all."

It was hours later, after Sirius and Peter had stopped by to wish James well and to tell Lily the whole school was talking about her telling Snape off, after Dumbledore dropped in to get her own account of what happened and to leave a small pile of chocolate frogs for them to enjoy, after Remus had left, after Madam Pomfrey had agreed to let her stay, that Lily woke up to someone stroking her hair.

She'd fallen asleep at some point in the night, and had leaned forward so that her head was on James's chest. Someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders. She sat up and rubbed her eyes before she noticed that he was awake and grinning. Then she launched herself right back down, pulling him into a tight hug. "I was worried," she murmured, kissing his temple.

"It's not like I died or anything! I'm just fine. See?" He gestured to himself after she'd pulled herself off of him.

"You _could_ have died," she argued.

"While I was asleep, I heard something about you going off on Snivellus. That true?"

"Yeah. It is."

"Is it also true that you threatened his life?" he teased, only half serious.

"I may have..."

"Why, Miss Evans, have I been a bad influence on you?"

"What can I say?" she joked. "I guess it's just the Gryffindor in me, defending what I love."

They both knew the implications of her words. James smiled. "Well, in that case... Do I _finally_ get that kiss?"

She gave him a light peck on the lips. "I prefer kissing people who aren't in a hospital bed. You can get a proper kiss when you're out of here."

"I've waited six years; I can wait a few more hours. So... if I ask you out, you'll say yes?"

"On one condition," she said seriously.

"Anything!"

"_Never_ use the words _I owe you one_ ever again."

* * *

*insert some witty statement about how I don't own any of the characters in this* I made Madam Pomfrey really out of character because I like to imagine that she used to be less uptight, but then she started seeing former students she'd once healed from minor injuries dying in a war and it kind of hardened her personality.


End file.
